Silky puree of roasted hokkaido pumpkin flavoured with coconut milk and lemon juice layered with pepita pesto with lemon balm and parsley that will leave your picky family members begging for more. Indulge yourself, family and friends with this light and wonderful seasonal appetizer!

800 g Hokkaido pumpkin

150 ml Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

40 g Pepitas, toasted

1 cup Lemon balm leaves

1 cup Flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 clove Garlic

25 g Parmesan, grated

100 ml Coconut cream

2 tbsp Lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Quarter the hokkaido pumpkin. Remove the seeds and place them, cut side down, in a baking tray. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in 1 cup of water and wrap with a large piece of tin foil. Bake for 30 minutes.

Toast pepitas in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden in spots and puffed, about 4 minutes.

Place lemon balm, parsley, pepitas, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and salt in food processor. Cover and process just until smooth. Gradually add in olive oil with machine running. Process until well blended and smooth.

Allow the pumpkin to cool 10 minutes. Then, scoop out the cooked pulp and discard the skins. Puree the pumpkin pulp in a blender with coconut cream and lemon juice until smooth. Layer the pumpkin puree with pesto in glasses.

I love this appetizer. The combination of the pumpkin with coconut milk sounds fantastic then layering it with it with a pepita pesto is genius. I love it. One question - you serve it with spoons to eat like ice cream or as a dip? Stunning!!

Certainly a clever way to serve this amazing pumpkin puree layered with the oh, so yummy pesto, and toasted pepitas! Angie, I have to search 'high and low' for these kind of creative and unusual recipes, and always, but always 'good for you' things:) xo

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